


The Grey Hunt

by Svartalfhild



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-07-24 13:32:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7510261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Svartalfhild/pseuds/Svartalfhild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Syldor Vessar once told Vex and Vax that there could be no happy ending for them with the path they had chosen.  Fifteen years after the fall of the Chroma Conclave, Vex realizes that he couldn't have been more wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Once a year, at the turning of summer to autumn, a festival was held in Whitestone called the Grey Hunt, a tradition which had seen its revival after the return of the de Rolos.  For a time, it was one of the few occasions a year when the heroes Vox Machina would come to Whitestone simply to visit, but one day, they came and two of their number stayed, announcing their retirement from adventuring.

Ten years passed and Whitestone was lulled into a contentment that no one who had lived under the rule of the Briarwoods would have foreseen.  Little had changed in the castle itself since Lord Percival had made it his home once more, except perhaps the pitter-patter of small feet and the sound of children laughing echoing through the halls, for there were two new de Rolos at Whitestone.

“Auntie, is father going to be home for the festival?” one of the miniature de Rolos asked on the first morning of the Grey Hunt, her long white-silver hair flopping over her scrawny shoulder as she tilted her head.

“I don’t know, Elaina.  It depends on how quickly he is able to conclude his business in Emon,” Lady Cassandra answered as she looked up from her desk at her niece’s expectant glowing golden gaze.  The girl’s bottom lip stuck out in a pout and as if on cue, there came a chiming of bells from the temple of Pelor, bells that announced the return of a ruling de Rolo.  Elaina’s face lit up like a lamp (both literally and figuratively) and before Cassandra could stop her, she ran off through the halls of the castle and out onto the ramparts, giving her a clear view of the entire city and the lane leading up to the castle.

A moment later, she was joined by a boy with equally white hair and radiant eyes.  Each of them wore identical bright grins as they watched a large group in the distance approach the castle.

When the group came close enough for their faces to be clearly distinguishable, the children called out to one among them in particular.

“Father!” they cried in delight and the lanky, bespectacled figure at the head of the party suddenly looked up, a smile spreading across his face.

“Hello!” he called back.

"Uncle Vax!  Auntie Kiki!  Pike!  Scanlan!  Grog!  You’re all here!”  The children had finally taken notice of their father’s companions and were starting to jump up and down, flapping their hands excitedly.

Without warning, enormous raven wings sprouted from Vax’s shoulders and he soared into the air, doing a few graceful flips and spins before landing beside the awe-struck children.

“That was so cool!” Elaina exclaimed and Vax chuckled, tucking an escaped feather behind her ear and patting her head affectionately.  An eagle then swooped up to land beside them before transforming into Keyleth.

“Woah.  Can you show me how to do that?” the boy asked reverently and the druid smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Maybe when you’re a little bit older, Ewan.  There’s a lot of energy and learning that goes into such powers and you have to work up to it.”  This inspired a look of both disappointment and understanding on Ewan’s face that evidently jerked at Keyleth’s heartstrings, because she quickly added, “Tell you what.  After you’ve said hi to your dad, why don’t I take you to the garden and show you how to make things grow?”

“Okay!”  With that, Ewan grabbed his aunt by the hand and pulled her with him back inside the castle, Elaina and Vax following suit.  Only a few minutes later, they met up with the rest of the party, Elaina and Ewan running to hug their father the moment they spotted him.

Percival picked both of them up, one in each arm, and swung them around as they giggled in delight, almost knocking his glasses askew as he did so.  They continued to hug him even as he tried to set them back down, as if they were afraid that he would disappear off to Emon again if they let go.

“Aw, Percy.  They’re _glowing_ ,” Keyleth observed, her hands coming up to press against her cheeks the way that they did whenever she found something utterly adorable or exciting.

“Isn’t that, like, one of them weird angel-y things they do?” Grog piped up, not sounding particularly impressed.

“Ye,” Pike chimed in with a big smile.

“Hello, darling,” a sultry voice called from the doorway to the parlor and everyone looked over to see Vex standing there, wearing a grey wolf pelt cowl and that grin of hers that always carried a little mischief with it that seemed enhanced by the wolf face sitting above it.

“She’s glowing too, but on the inside,” Scanlan commented somewhat suggestively and Percy probably would have said something witty in reply had he not been busy staring at his wife.  He hadn’t seen her in an entire two months and he was content to just drink in the sight of her standing a mere ten feet from him.

“Hello,” he said in a rather soft and bashful tone and he could almost feel the eyerolls of his friends as they immediately began to discuss vacating the room.  Keyleth took Ewan out to the garden.  Vax gave Vex a big hug before going off with Elaina to play hide and seek.  Grog and the gnomes scampered away, saying something about helping townsfolk prep for the festival.

With everyone gone, Vex threw back her cowl and rushed to Percy, grabbing him by the lapels and snogging him fiercely.  He was left quite out of breath and feeling more than welcomed home.

“Hello,” he repeated, this time with a much more devious tone.

“It was getting so lonely here in Whitestone without you,” Vex murmured in return, a finger of one hand now idly moving to loop around Percy’s ascot.

“You had the children.  And Cassandra,” Percy teased and Vex gave a mock sigh of exasperation.

“Yes, but Cass is _always_ at meetings and I had _no one_ to make snide remarks to.  Or to have shooting contests with.  Or to hold me and whisper sweet nothings.  Or to kiss at inappropriate moments.”

“Ah, yes.  Point made.”

“Does that mean you missed me just as terribly?”

“Every second.”

“And that’s why you’ve hurried your ass back here just in time to see my glorious performance as Grand Mistress of the Grey Hunt?” Vex punctuated this by pulling her wolf cowl back up and Percy laughed.

“Of course.  I wouldn’t dare to disappoint.  I gave you that title after all.”

“I remember.  And it’s making me want to do obscene things with you, but I have to start the festival soon.”

Percy turned a little pink around the ears at this and adjusted his spectacles.  He knew she enjoyed inciting this kind of reaction from him, so he played along.

“I’m sure there will, er, be plenty of opportunity to,” he paused to clear his throat, “after the day’s revelry is done.”

“Oh, you can count on that, darling,” Vex told him with a wink before practically skipping from the room.

* * *

Vex sat on a horse at the foot of the Sun Tree, watching as the people Whitestone gathered around her.  Those behind her were mounted as well (except for Trinket), marking them participants in the festival’s opening event: the hunt itself.  Among them were Vax, Pike, and Grog and of course Percy and Cass at her side.  At the forefront of the spectators stood Elaina and Ewan, beaming up at their mother with smiles almost identical to hers, Keyleth and Scanlan flanking them and laughing at some joke Gilmore had just told.

It was in this moment that Vex realized that the happyily-ever-after she never thought she would have had come to pass.  She had a home and role of importance in that home.  She had an amazing partner, whom she loved and trusted more than she ever thought she could.  She had two supernaturally beautiful children, who were looked upon with curiosity and awe, rather than with the distaste and mistrust she had known as a child.  She was surrounded by the friends and family she had chosen for herself, all happy and in good health.

Time would eventually take it all from her, she knew, but having achieved this moment at all was what mattered.  Her father had never believed she would amount to anything and yet here she was.

“Suck it, Syldor Vessar,” was the last thought through her head before she blew the horn in her hand and the Grey Hunt began.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The festival brings a contentment Vox Machina never knew in their adventuring days.

The city of Whitestone echoed with the sound of galloping hooves as nearly a score of horses raced down the pale cobbled streets towards the forest.  Leading them was Lady Vex'ahlia, adorned with the traditional wolf pelt that marked her Grand Mistress of the Grey Hunt, with her enormous bear barreling forward behind her.  Onlookers cheered enthusiastically as they went by, trying hard to make their voices heard over the thunder of the hunting party.  As they passed out of the alabaster city and into the lush greens and browns of the woods, Vex felt her excitement rise.  This was her natural habitat and she would thrive.

The party dispersed between the trees, intent upon their quarry, Pelor's Stag, a large white hart said to be a gift from the god himself to the farmers of this land to sustain them as they worked hard to have their crops ready for harvest.  Vex played the role of the wolf seeking prey, a symbol of the natural order of things, and though some might find the whole thing rather silly, she loved it.  She loved the thrill of the chase, the wind rushing through her hair, her feral senses flaring like an adrenaline-fueled flame.

Glancing to her left, she could see Percy coming up beside her, a smirk on his lips as he drove his horse to catch up to her.  They had an agreement each year that whichever of them reached the river that ran through the forest first got one non-negotiable favour which they could call on from the other at any point in the coming year.  It was a little private game they played to raise the excitement of the hunt and it certainly did in this moment.  With a grin, Vex urged her steed to go all out.  Never take half-measures against a betting man, she reminded herself as she vaulted over an enormous fallen tree.  Without even a second's hesitation, he followed suit.  Ten years had passed since he had retired from adventuring and still he possessed something of a reckless disregard for his own safety, particularly where dares were concerned.  It was as frustrating to Vex as it was attractive.

The couple sped between the ever-thickening trees, Trinket now struggling to keep up with them. The sound of rushing water soon reached their ears and they glanced at each other with looks of pure competitive zeal.  As they drew closer to the river, they were lined up close, neither making headway against the other.  As tempting as it was to push and shove, dirty tricks were strictly against the rules, so Vex kept her mouth shut and her hands to herself, determined to win that favour through sheer force of will.

A bright cackle escaped Vex as she reached up to tag the tree branch that marked victory a split second before Percy could, though both of them very nearly careened straight into the river, turning their horses away just in time.

"That's a favour for me," she proclaimed proudly and Percy gave her a courteous nod of acceptance.

"I suppose it's only fair.  I won the past two years."

"I know and it's given me a lot of time to think about what sort of things I might ask of you."  There was a mischievous look it the ranger's eyes as she said this that prompted Percy to give her that smile of his that often appeared when something was going horribly wrong, but he was amused by it anyway.

"Oh dear."  At this, Vex laughed again and leaned over to kiss Percy's cheek.

* * *

Hunting down Pelor’s Stag took many long hours, but eventually Vex received word that a farm girl named Isolde had felled the sacred beast and the Grand Mistress blew her horn once more, signalling all hunters to return to the city, where they would be greeted by a crowd in the throes of celebration.

Once Isolde was presented as victor before the Sun Tree and given her prize of 50 gold pieces, Vex and Trinket hurried to join their friends and family in the festivities.

She found her children with Vax, who had taken them to a booth where one got a prize for tossing a ball through a small hoop at a distance.  The person managing this stand, a gangly young man with mousy brown hair and a crooked nose, seemed rather put out that Elaina and Ewan were so good at this game.  Vax, on the other hand, appeared thoroughly amused.  After all, it was pretty much genetically impossible for them to have bad aim.

“Enjoying yourselves?” Vex questioned as she approached and Vax grinned as Elaina and Ewan immediately stopped what they were doing to give their mother hugs.

“They were good when you were honouring Isolde, so I took them to play their favourite game and look!”  Vax cheerfully held up his arms, which were laden with plush toys.  “You taught them well, Stubby.”

“Oh my goodness; there are so many.  You won all of them?”  Vex looked to her children and they both nodded excitedly.

“We’re not going to keep them all, though,” Elaina piped up and the siblings held up the plush toys they held, indicating they were only going to keep one each.  “The rest we’re going to give to the kids who couldn’t get one.” At this, Vex was almost overwhelmed with pride.  She had been blessed with such generous children, a trait she was sure they’d picked up from their father.

“That’s a wonderful idea, darling.”  At this, Elaina and Ewan energetically scampered off, Vex, Vax, and Trinket following with the amassed plushies.  They spent the next several minutes distributing them to children who looked to be having less fun than others.  Several of those children looked at the young de Rolo siblings as if they’d come down from the Heavens themselves, which honestly wasn’t too far off the mark, especially in the eyes of their mother.

“They’re going to be scary when they’re in charge in Whitestone,” Vax commented quietly to his sister as they watched a small farm boy give Ewan the biggest hug.

“How so?”  The questioning was joking, but Vax gave a semi-serious answer that Vex did not expect.

“There won’t be a single person in this town who won’t be willing to do anything for them.”

“They've had several major political and religious figures in their pocket since before they were born,” the amused tones of Percival de Rolo commented and Vex looked around to see her husband walking towards them with Keyleth and Pike at his sides, his arms folded behind his back in that casual aristocratic manner he often displayed.  Keyleth, who was holding a large wolf-shaped chocolate on a stick in each hand, frowned at Percy.

“We’re not in their pocket,” she said somewhat indignantly and Percy quirked an eyebrow, tilting his head at the chocolates.  “This is different!  This chocolate is Being The Fun Aunt chocolate!”

“Don’t let Cass hear you say that.  She’ll take it as a challenge,” Percy quipped and Vex let out a cackle as she stepped over to loop her hand around his arm.

“Goodness knows the don’t need all that sugar, energetic little ones as they already are, but since they’ll likely burn it all off dancing tonight anyway, I think we can let it slide,” the ranger commented jokingly to her husband as they watched Keyleth give their little aasimar the chocolate wolves.

“Oh my gods!  It’s so big!  And tasty!” Elaina exclaimed jumping up and down and showing her now slightly gnawed upon treat to her parents.  Keyleth of course adopted a rather smug expression at this.

“Almost as big as me!” Pike laughed, throwing her arms up, and Ewan’s golden eyes suddenly filled with a distant look of awe, as if he were imagining a piece of chocolate the size of Pike.

“Ooh, now you’re giving them ideas,” Vax teased with a big grin.  “C’mon, let’s go see how many festival games we can play before the banquet.”  Beckoning for everyone to follow, they set out once more through the crowds, in search of merriment to be had, Elaina and Ewan perched happily atop Trinket as they ate their treats.

* * *

An afternoon of playing of visiting practically every table and booth in the town square quickly rolled into an evening of feasting.  The air filled with the aroma of seasoned meats and sound of laughter as townsfolk ate their fill and traded tales (giving both Grog and Scanlan ample opportunity to shine).

By the time everyone was fast approaching drunk, it was decided that it was time for the real merriment to begin and musicians gathered at the Sun Tree.  It wasn’t long before the entire square was filled with dancing people, several of whom were wearing flower crowns crafted by Keyleth.

This was the time when everyone in Whitestone, regardless of background, was the same and Percy loved it.  There was no need for noble pretense here.  He was just another person in the crowd, dancing the night away with almost reckless abandon.  Here, surrounded by his friends, his wondrous children, his sister, and his beautiful wife, with jaunty music in the air and the warm glow of bonfire light on their grinning faces, he was at peace.


End file.
